When the ISTD was founded, a number of important and influential Vice-Presidents were recruited who could guarantee the status of the society and attract public attention.
Early Vice-Presidents included:
- Professor Alfred Adler,
- Professor (later Sir) Cyril Burt,
- The Countess De la Warr,
- Havelock Ellis,
- Professor Sigmund Freud,
- Cardinal Griffin,
- Sir David Henderson,
- Laurence Housman,
- Professor Julian Huxley,
- The Very Rev. Hewlett Johnson,
- Professor Carl Jung,
- Professor B Malinowski,
- Dr Otto Rank,
- The Viscount Templewood,
- H G Wells